The Federal Council announced last week that it would not finance a possible national exhibition in the coming years. According to him, federal finances do not support such an event. Enough to shake up the committees that have been working on concepts of demonstration for years.
For Christina Hanke, the director of Nexpo, a project which intends to bring together the ten largest cities in the country, it is the cold shower after this position of the government. “We are very surprised by this decision, but also by the time chosen. The Confederation had communicated to us to take a stand on funding at the end of 2026,” she said on Monday in the morning.
“Without financial support from the Confederation, it will not be possible to organize a national exhibition worthy of the name. We analyze the situation and look at what options we have left,” she adds.
One billion for expo.02
The federal state had spent approximately one billion francs at the exhibition. 02, the last national exhibition dated, organized in the Trois-Lacs region.
It is hard to imagine that such an amount can be released in the middle of a period of budgetary restrictions. It is indeed planned, as part of the 2027 budget relief program, to save savings of around 3 billion francs per year from 2027 to regain balance.
Nexpo nevertheless does not give up. The association hopes to have the government of opinion change. With its modular events, his project is currently quoted below what Expo.02 had cost.
>> Review the big format on Expo.02: The national exhibition exhibition.02, ephemeral euphoria
Radio subject: Gabriela Cabré
Text: Antoine Michel
